Wolf Tones/Stratitus and New Fender American Deluxe Jazz V

[esxmac]

I just got my Fender American Deluxe Jazz V (Alder/Maple, Sunburst) last week, had my tech set it up (with DR Lo Riders SS 45-125), and noticed what I think are wolf tones on B and E up past the 12th fret, getting more pronounced as I go up the neck.

I have searched all over various forums, but I don't really know what wolf tones sound like. Is it just odd harmonics, dual notes, etc.? Does anyone know where I can hear a sample of what they (wolf tones) sound like?

I have been messing with the pickup height but I lose a lot of the tone as I lower them. Lowering the pickups does help significantly, but doesn't really get rid of them. Could it be the strings or something else?

[Earwigger]

You may try raising the action just a tiny bit. The magnetics from the pickups might be pulling the string into the other frets when you're high on the neck. It might even be just brushing the top of the higher frets so that there's not an immediate or obvious interaction. Try it? Good luck.

[esxmac]

Cool, thanks! I will try that when I get home from work. Any chance it could be the DR Lo Riders? Is 125 too small for a B string (sorry, this is my first V)?

[esxmac]

I tried raising the action and it didn't really change anything--other than that I click less on the frets. Still warbles with odd overtones high up on the neck.

I also noticed that the B string all the way up, including open, has a very slight echo and chorus sound to it. Hmm.

[202dy]

Wolf tones are sounds caused by sympathetic vibration. For example, if E (A string, seventh fret) is struck the open E string will vibrate. Wolf tones are eliminated through proper muting technique. In this case, the thumb of the plucking hand is brought to bear against the E string so that it cannot move.

Strat-itis is fairly unusual in a bass guitar. Unusual harmonics can be attributed to a number of different things. There are various remedies depending on the specific problem.

Do the sounds happen only acoustically or do the offending harmonics sound through the amplifier?

[esxmac]

The sounds happen both through an amp and unplugged. I thought it might be sympathetic vibration and made sure I accounted for that (still happens).

I beginning to think I might have a bum B-string.

[202dy]

Good thought. Start with the easy and cheap. If that fails head toward the complicated and expensive. Change the string as see what happens.

One other thought: Depending on how the instrument is set up and how responsive the structure, sometimes the weird overtones are generated by a string(s) that are in motion between the stopped note and the nut. If so, then more attention need be paid to fret hand muting.

[esxmac]

So I took the bass back to my tech and he made some adjustments including lowering the pickups a little bit--very little, really--and raising the action on the B and E strings. That helped some. Oh, and I had him double-check the nut--no problems found.

But what really helped...was playing it for a few hours. Maybe it is a DR Lo Rider SS thing, but all I did was play it for a few hours over the last 4 days and it seems to have resolved itself to a large degree. I also noticed the DRs mellowed out slightly, but it seems that the new strings just needed to settle in. Lots of growl on those Lo Riders too, yet they are also clear and distinct.

I also spent a lot of time at several music stores and tried a bunch of 5-strings, including several Warwick, Music Man, other American Deluxe Jazz 5s, etc. They all seem to have slight wolf tones high up on the B and E strings. In addition, I noticed that the B string on mine is about the same tension as all the 5s I played.

Now that they have settled in, I really like the SS Lo Riders. I might try the nickel lo riders next, or maybe the sunbeams, especially since I am getting more into funk.